Chuck vs What is Real
by stingslikeabee
Summary: Bryce is back, gotta love the angst. AU, i guess. just something i wrote after re-watching some episodes. Its my first fic, you know how it is. supposed to be a multi-chapter fic but i might not follow through with it. i own nothing and mistakes are mine.
1. Chapter 1

Its a slow afternoon at the Buy More for Chuck and after his routine service calls that morning, he sits in his chair at the Nerd Herd counter, staring intently at the door.

"Hey, Chuck!" Morgan greeted with too much enthusiasm, covering Chuck's line of view of the entrance.

"What's up, buddy?" Chuck reciprocates.

"Oh you know, nothing much, nothing much," the bearded man says, leaning on the counter. "Just wondering if you had any plans for the night?"

After yesterday's miniscule mission, he figures there shouldn't be anything going on for tonight. "Free as a bird, pal. What you got in mind?"

"Well,"scratching his beard, "this wasn't my idea. Anna wanted me to come and ask, and I couldn't say no, 'cause you know how she gets when she doesn't get what she wants and quite frankly I get scared. The last time I di-"

"Morgan?"

"Yeah, man?"

"Spit it out already, would ya?"

"Right, right," he chuckles slightly, "you think you and your lady friend would be up for a double date at Chinese restaurant down the block?"

Chuck immediately sits up straighter, contemplating whether or not to accept. _It'd be good for the cover_, he rationalizes on Sarah's behalf, though he knows he's way too excited already. "I'm game, I'll just check in with Sarah," he says taking his iPhone out and dialling.

"_Hey, Chuck."_

Before he knows it, his heart is beating just a tad bit faster than normal; as it always does when he's with her, even just through a phone call. Clearing his throat, "Hey, Sarah. I-I was just wondering, do you have any plans for tonight?"

"_Nope, I'm doing the daily report now, so I'm free for the rest of the day. Why?"_

"Well, Morgan and Anna wanna go for a double date. Up for it?"

"_Sure," _she says and Chuck thinks she almost sounds excited. _"It'd be good for the cover," _with that, his heart sank just a little, though he expected it, didn't he?

"Great," he says anyway, hiding any negative emotions from his voice. "Pick you up at 7?"

"_Yeah, sure. Bye."_

"Bye, Sarah." He hangs up and stares intently at his phone, feeling too many different things at once.

"Chuck?" his head snaps up, finding Morgan.

"Oh, right, umm yeah," he stutters a bit, "she'll be there. What do you say we meet up at around 7.30?"

Before his bearded little friend can say anything, Big Mike yells his name from the office. He jogs over, "Sounds great," he says over his shoulder.

Over at the Castle, Sarah hangs up and takes a moment from going back to her report, willing her heart to slow down. Its just a cover date for God's sake, she tells herself over and over again. .. She knows she can't be this close to someone or anyone. Especially her asset! Before she can dwell on anything else, she hears the hiss of the entrance.

"Walker, briefing in 2 minutes," grumbles Casey from the stairs.

Putting away her files and papers, she asks, "What about Chuck?"

"What's the matter? Not comfortable keeping _secrets_ from your boy?" He says with a smirk. "Beckman said he doesn't need be present for this one." About to question him, she's stopped short when the screen came to life.

"Agent Walker, Agent Casey," she greets, "without any chit-chat to waste time, I'm just going to shoot forward here." This grabbed the two's attention. "The government is this close to eliminating the Russian terrorist group once and for all. Agent Larkin has been working on the inside and has gotten us an opportunity to capture their leader," she pauses making sure her her top agents are still listening.

"Ma'am?" Casey starts, "What do we need to do to help?" Both know that this particular group have been responsible for not only fatal attacks in the US, but in Europe and South-east Asia as well.

"Well, it's actually quite more simple than you may think as it is similar to past missions," the General says with small smirk, excitement written all over facial features. This unnerved both of the Intersect's handlers. "Agent Walker simply has to accompany Agent Larkin, in disguise of course, and assist with the arrest."

"Do we know who he is? name? face?"

"No, this is why the Intersect must be present during surveillance to identify him. I can not stress enough how important this is. Arresting this man is critical."

Sarah's gut is aching with the mention of her and Bryce together. Yet, she can't help feel ecstatic for a thrilling mission. She schools her expression though, and remains quiet.

"When do we proceed, General?" Casey inquires for the team's behalf.

"In two days, Major. See that the Intersect gets time off as you fly over to Nevada. Tonight, Agent Larkin will be flying in to debrief the team on crucial facts of who to watch for and what to do. Are we clear?" Without waiting for a response, she continues, "Until tomorrow."

- - - - - -

"Chuck," she calls for him across the parking lot, their shifts are over and are about to head home.

"Sarah, hey," he beams. "C'mon and get in the car. I'll drop you off at your place." Always the gentleman, he opens the door for her.

"Chuck, we have to cancel tonight's plans," Sarah starts as they drive out of the lot. With a quick side glance at the man, she catches his frown.

"What is it this time? Turkish arms dealers? Mexican traffickers?" He says not bothering to hide his frustrated tone.

"No," she sighs, "its that Russian terrorist group, remember? The ones in charge of the atomic bomb over near Thailand." Chuck can't be any more pissed, when can he get a break from all this? Not even a decent cover date? He calls Morgan quickly and clears it up. Ending the call, his attitude still present, he asks.

"Alright, now what? Waiter? Husband? Fiance maybe?"

Clearing her throat from a phantom itch, she says softly, "No, you stay in the van for surveillance." Looking straight ahead, "Casey will pose as a bartender and I'll arrest the guy."

"Wait, its just like any other mission, right? Why can't I just attend the party and point whoever I flash on?"

"We need someone on the inside," detaching her voice she continues, "Bryce is taking me."

Just when I thought it doesn't get any better, Chuck says to himself. "Okay," he replies.

Okay? What? That's all he can say about it? No, no. This is good, so much more easier to distance myself if he gives me the chance. Arriving at her hotel, she turns to him. "Meet us back at the Castle in an hour. We have debriefing with Bryce," she closes the door and walks off without waiting for a response and missing the pained expression of the man she tells herself that she doesn't can't have feelings for.

A/N: Okay, probably not the best I can do but at least I tried :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. I have dreams that I do, though. But it will only be just that, dreams. dammit._

_A/N: Okay, well, I was going to post up a second chapter anyway but the subscriptions and reviews just made them happen faster :) To be honest, I have nothing written after this so hopefully I get sometime to get to more writing. And yeah, I also know it's been only hours since I first posted but whatever, no ones complaining. Anyway, read on!_

-----

In his jeans and a shirt on, Chuck goes through the Castle's door. Looking down, somewhat relieved to see only Casey sorting through papers.

"Bartowski," the older man greets not looking up from his file.

"Hey," Chuck replies, "Where's Sarah?"

"Picking up your best friend from the airport," he says with an amused grunt. "Should be here any minute now." As if on cue, the hiss announces their arrival. Sarah comes through first, an expressionless mask over her facial features. Though he's somewhat angry, he gulps at her sight. Clad in only jeans and a simple white blouse, she takes his breathe away. He notices she's avoiding his eyes, though.

"Chuck!" The all too familiar voice calls from the top of the stairs. He looks up to see his former best friend, looking as his handsome self as usual. Chuck summons a fake, tight smile to his lips.

"Hey, Bryce."

"Oh, joy. Now that the gangs here," Casey says with all the unnecessary enthusiasm and sarcasm left in the world, "care to share?"

Narrowing his eyes at the Major, Bryce takes a seat in front of Chuck; who, he notices, is beside Sarah. "I'll be glad to," he begins.

After about another 15 minutes of explaining the area's compound and security, Bryce says, "My contact only got me in into the party, so we have no idea who to look out for. Chuck would need to stay in the van as there are most probably a lot of henchmen and guards around the complex and inside the the building."

"I can handle myself," Chuck mumbles under his breath, soft enough he thinks no one would hear. Of course, a momentary lapse had caused him to forget that he was surrounded by trained spies.

"Sure you can, buddy," Bryce says with an smirk on his face. Chuck hears a grunt from Casey and can even see Sarah suppressing a smile.

Ouch.

His mood now hitting rock bottom, he chooses to stand up.

"Well, if we're done here," he trails off already heading up the stairs.

"Yeah, one more thing." Casey interrupts, "be sure to tell Big Mike and Ellie you're on leave. We go to Nevada in two days." Nodding sombrely, he continues to get out.

"Wait up, Chuck!" he hears someone call out as soon as he steps through to the Orange Orange. He stops but doesn't turn.

"Need a lift home?" she asks unlocking the doors of the shop. He stares at her cynically, can't believing she can stand there after he was humiliated and down graded by her lover. EX-lover. "Chuck?"

"Nope, I'll walk," he quickly replies, walking past her and out of the store in one fluid motion. He marches on, not glancing back to see if he was being followed. He turns at the corner and hears rushing footsteps.

"Chuck," Sarah calls out again, "Chuck, wait." He turns violently, enough to stop Sarah at her tracks. Jesus, he looks mad, Sarah says to herself. _No shit, Sherlock. _"You know he didn't mean it, right?"

He chuckles mirthlessly, "Really, Sarah?" He locks his eyes on her and raises his voice by a fraction, "Is that why you and Casey joined in, not meaning it either?" His gaze is so intense she takes refuge in her hands. "Look, never mind." Chuck turns around and walks off at rapid pace, needing physical distance from the woman he thought cared about him. _Jeez, Chuck. PMS, much? _A voice in the back of his mind chides. He shakes it off, rationalizing that this wasn't the first time he was rebuked for being useless.

"_Why can't you just stay in the damn car?" Yells Sarah once they are in the suburban after barely escaping from the warehouse. _

"_Because it's never safe in the damn car!" Chuck retaliates._

"_Way to go, moron," Casey butts in. "Now our cover is blown AND we don't have the usb!"_

"_Seriously, Chuck! Just this once, could you listen and let the professionals do their job!" Sarah adds to his scolding. Casey drops them off at the Orange Orange and speeds of to report in with Washington. _

"_What was I supposed to do, Sarah?" Chuck pleads as they get in her Porsche. Still infuriated, Sarah grips the wheel until her knuckles turn white._

"_You were supposed_ _to stay in the car."_

"_But he nearly shot you!" He explains, "I don't see how I'm just _supposed _to sit in the car and let you get fricken shot!"_

_Without missing a beat, "God, Chuck. It's my JOB, okay? You interfered, putting not only your life in danger, but mine and Casey's too! And, we failed in our mission to retrieve the intel!" Slowing the car down in front of his apartment complex, she turns to him, "Just do what you're told to and make our jobs _so _much easier."_

_Chuck, shocked to his core, says nothing back. Instead, he gets out of the car and slams the door. Before retreating, he squats to level himself with the window. "Here," he says, tossing a small metal thing at Sarah. She catches it and finds that it was the usb. She looks up to find him gone. _

20 minutes later, he finds himself on the beach. Yes, that very beach from the first time he found out how much his life has been screwed up. How did it come to this? He sits down, finding comfort in the soft sand.

With nothing but time on his hands, he stars thinking back to his high school days. Sure, he wasn't the jock. Yeah, he wasn't one of the total geeks either. He was average, you could say, and he didn't mind it at all. Fine, he didn't have many friends or much girlfriends. Okay, no girlfriends, he admitted to himself. He knew he wasn't _that_ good looking, but he had his charm and one hell of a personality.

College, well, Stanford was great. Bryce became someone he could trust and teach him things about life and of course, girls. Chuck noticed though, that apart from Jill, any girl that would take interest in Chuck would be whisked away by Bryce Larkin's magic. There was Denise, the cute red head from the other building. There was Caitlin, the pretty brunette from the coffee shop. There was Kristen, another brunette from sister's party. Contemplating this, he figured he wouldn't have any more of it. He can't have '_professionals'_ stomp over him any longer.

Question is, what was he going to do about it?

_A/N: Okay, now that's done and over with. I have no idea where I'm going with this. Hopefully, I come up with something different from other stories. Suggestions, anyone?_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: To answer some, yeah, I don't know either where I'm going with this. Is it wrong that I'm just having fun with it? Lol. Anyway, I have some ideas but you know how it goes. I appreciate all the reviews! Oh and btw, this is still with Intersect 1.0 if that at all clears some stuff up :) _

_Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing, well not yet anyway. I wanna be a movie producer :) *sigh* in my dreams._

Sarah wakes up before her alarm, she lays on her back staring up at the ceiling. Maybe I should check up on Chuck, she tells herself. _It's 7 in the morning, Walker, what are you thinking?_ I'm thinking I miss him? and I'm worried about him? Thankful that Casey took over watching Chuck's GPS and that he made Bryce stay over at the Castle the other night; Sarah closes her eyes, remembering his face from before, looking so dejected.

The knock on the door pulls her from her stupor. Hoping it's Chuck, she gets up fast but quickly grabbing her gun from under her nightstand before walking towards the door. You can never be too careful.

"Bryce?" she says, surprised. On the other side of the door, her former lover in jeans and a black dress shirt stands.

"Good morning, Sarah," he smiles and brings up a full brown paper bag from his right hand. "Brought you some breakfast," and walks into her room.

Sarah closes the door and watches as Bryce finds his way to the small table by the window. Chocolate Croissants? She asks herself, suddenly remembering when another someone brought her one of her favorite pastries. Bryce pulls out a sandwich from the bag. Taking a seat on the other side of the table, "What did you get me?"

Without looking up from setting up, "Tuna sandwich." Sarah doesn't show her disappointment but waits patiently until he hands her her breakfast.

"Thanks," she says and takes a bite. "There are olives in this."

After taking a bite of his own meal, he smiles. "Yeah, it really gives flavor to it. So I some extra in yours."

Oh, joy.

- - - - - -

"Mornin', bro!" booms Devon from the living room, shirtless-yet again, exercising on his bike.

"Hey, Devon," Chuck greets and grabs a cereal box from the cupboard. "Where's Ellie?"

"She has an early shift," he replies still looking straight ahead. Chuck watches him for a second, Devon's a fit guy and he knows it. I bet if I were as lean...and Chuck's little light bulb in the back of his head, lights up.

"Umm, hey, Devon?"

"Yeah, man?"

"Would you mind helping me get into shape?" he asks softly and focuses his gaze on his breakfast.

"For real, Chuck?" Devon says, his voice clearly showing excitement. Chuck looks up and sees Devon thinking, then catching a frown. "Damn, I'm way too busy at work. I'd be glad to help with your diet though."

Chuck feels his shoulders slump just a bit, "Oh, thanks. That'd be great."

"But," the bigger man starts, "I could recommend you to a gym. I have a friend who's a personal trainer."

He thinks about this, "Woman or a man?"

Devon chuckles, "Total female, bro. And to be off the record, total babe." Chuck doesn't know which is worse, having some sweaty guy tell him what to do or have a pretty girl watch him embarrass himself. He nods his head anyway. "Awesome! I'll give them a call sometime today, alright?"

"Yes, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again, Devon." Chuck says making his way to the shower.

"No problemo, bro."

Chuck gets in the shower and lets the hot, comforting water wash away all the stress from a sleepless night. I can do this, he tells himself. I can follow orders, fine, if it saves me from any more ridicule. Feeling somewhat more motivated, he gets out and gets dressed for another day at the Buy More.

- - - - - - -

Back at Sarah's hotel room.

"You know," Bryce starts as he cleans up the wrappers from their meal, "I'd usually stay so we could get to the fun stuff," and winks. Sarah schools her expression, not showing her disgust towards he forwardness of it all. "But I have to go and give a call to my contact."

"What for?" Sarah asks, walking Bryce out the door.

Opening the door, he turns back to her. "Just to check in with the plans, make sure there aren't any changes." She nods simply and prepares to close the door.

"Thanks for breakfast," she says politely. Bryce smiles but walks off not say anything else. Sarah closes the door and leans her back on it. Letting out a sigh, she closes her eyes. I would've actually enjoyed that if it weren't for that mop of curls setting the bar high for things like this, she thinks. _Think, Walker. You're ALLOWED to have a relationship with Bryce._

Hoping to clear her head up, she hops in the shower.

- - - - - - - -

Knocking on Big Mike's door, Chuck looks down at the box of donuts in his arms. "What do you want?" says the manager. Chuck steps inside and can immediately see his face light up with the sight of the box of donuts.

"Here you go, big guy," Chuck says and sets the box on his table. Clasping his hands together he begins, "Big Mike, I need a couple days off from tomorrow. Is that okay?"

The fatter man looks up from his donut, "What for, Bartwoski?"

"An old friend's wedding," he replies with no hesitation. "Just a few days, is all."

"Fine," he says devouring yet another greasy donut. "Be sure to do your service calls for the morning, though."

"Yes, sir. I'll get 'em done."

"Oh, and make sure your Herders are getting their asses into work. Morgan too!"

"Of course, Big Mike."

"Good, now get out!" Stepping out of his office, Chuck sighs in relief. Heading towards the Nerd Herd counter to grab the folder of service calls, he's stopped short by Jeff.

"You bribed him, huh?" He slurs, clearly hung over by the way he's swaying in place. "What? No donuts for your gang?"

"Look," Chuck starts exasperated, "Jeff, just get to work."

"C'mon, Chuck. I want my fair share of treats."

"You know what? Fine," Chuck says wiping his face, "I'll but you a 6-pack at the end of the day. Just get to work!"

"Sure thing," Jeff says and steps aside. "I like the cheap ones!" He calls after Chuck goes through the entrance. Shaking his head at his work mate, he continues walking towards the Nerd Herder. Once inside, he feels his iPhone vibrate. Pulling out to find Sarah's face on the screen, he swallows the excitement and answers, "Hello?"

"_Chuck, hey."_

"What is it, Sarah? I have a few calls to get to this morning," he replies with no emotion. "Is there a change to the mission?"

There's a pause before she answers, _"No, no. Just checking up on you."_ Despite last night's debacle and rough emotions, he feels flattered and his voice softens.

"I'm good, thanks. Just about to leave. You?"

"_Same here." _Another long pause of silence. _"Well, I should let you get to work. Bye."_ The line goes dead before he can say anything back. Letting out a sigh, he puts the key in the ignition and stars the car. Knowing Casey is '30 yards' him making sure he doesn't get himself into any trouble, Chuck gets his services finished before lunch. He decides to head home for a quick lunch and to check in if Ellie's home.

Going through the threshold, Chuck can hear the shower going. Coming to the conclusion of his sister's presence, he heads to the fridge and fixes himself a sandwich.

"Hey, Chuck!" Ellie greets him fully clothed but hair still damp.

"Ellie," he reciprocates. "Oh, by the way, I'll be heading up to an old friend's wedding tomorrow. I'll be gone for a few days."

"Oh? Which friend?"

"Just some buddy from college. Don't think you've ever met him though," he says taking a drink. His heart sinks realizing how its so easy for him to lie to someone he used say everything to.

"Oh okay. Is Sarah going with you?" She asks with a gleam in her eye.

Chuck swallows, "Of course," he answers.

"Good." Ellie drinks some water and turns back to him. "Well, I need to get some sleep. You should probably get back to work."

"Yeah. See you, sis!"

"Oh, wait," calls Ellie before Chuck gets to the door. Scanning her purse, she pulls out a piece of paper. "Devon says he's set everything up at the gym...? Just call this number to tell them when you're coming in."

Chuck takes the piece of paper, "Thanks."

"Seriously, Chuck," Ellie says with a chuckle, "Good luck with that!" Chuck replies with his own small laugh and gets in the car. Looking at the small sheet, he sees he number and the name above it. Samantha-Rose. That's a pretty name, he thinks. Not one to call and drive, he parks at the Buy More's lot and dials on his phone.

By the the third ring, _"Hello?"_

Clearing his throat, "Hi, umm, Samantha-Rose? This is Chuck Bartowski."

"_Oh yeah, hey! Devon said you might call. So are you planning on coming in today?" _She sounds pretty too, Chuck says to himself. He coughs again, not to stutter.

"Sorry, not today," he starts. Then checking the date on his phone, he counts 3 days from now. "Can I come by this Friday, though?"

"_Yeah, sure. Friday's good."_

"Great, see you then?"

"_Yup. Don't forget an extra shirt. I'm gonna make sure you work up a sweat,"_ she says with a light voice. Chuck audibly gulps and he's sure he can hear her chuckle.

"Will do. Thanks," he manages to say.

"_Bye,"_ she concludes and hangs up. He shoves his phone back into his pocket and makes his way to the Buy More. Scanning the store, he finds Casey staring at him and nudges his head towards the Home Theatre room. Getting the message, Chuck follows Casey inside. Inside, Bryce is standing at the corner, talking quietly on his phone while Sarah looks through a file on the couch.

"What's going on?" Chuck asks as Bryce hangs up and walks over to the group.

"Change of plans," Bryce starts, "We have to fly in tonight."

_A/N: Wow, I actually wrote another chapter. I don't know if I should continue with this though. I'm in the middle of writing a one-shot though :) I'm very proud of myself. _


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. period. fml. lol_

_A/N: Okay, this took longer than anticipated because well, I absolutely suck with mission related things. No joke. Every single time I went over what I wrote, I hated it. That's normal right? Hopefully I get better at these as I write more. but i did try :)_

"What you up to?" Chuck asks taking a seat on the plane next to Sarah, who is currently scanning through profiles of the terrorist group. And I thought she didn't like paperwork, he says to himself. Looking up from her folder, she gives him a small smile.

"Just taking a look at the contact Bryce has to meet up with."

"Who's that?"

"Who? This guy?" She points to a picture of a skinny, balding man with thick rimmed glasses; at the top of a page.

"Ye-yeah..." Chuck trails off, having a familiar feeling in the back of his head.

_A Koi fish_

_A ticking bomb_

_The man with a gun_

_The man flanking another blurred man._

_A recent family picture of him, wife and kids_

_A Nuclear bomb_

_The man playing Guitar Hero (expert level, Chuck notices)_

_A Koi Fish_

Coming out of his Flash, he takes a deep breath. I'm getting pretty good at this, he says, thinking Sarah didn't notice it; which was a first.

"What did you see, Chuck?" She asks. So much for being inconspicuous.

"Well, Bryce must really be high up the ranks," Chuck begins, "cuz that's right-hand man of this so called terrorist group. Unfortunately, there were no names or pictures of the actual leader." Sarah purses her lip in thought, making Chuck just a tiny bit hot under the collar. Chuck, don't even think about it; it's pretty clear nothing can happen, he tells himself.

Finally, though it may have only been a couple seconds, she replies. "Why would they send someone so high up the food chain? We should ask Bryce." Chuck stands up and walks over to Bryce's seat, Sarah right at his heel. "Bryce, have you met Gregory Keznik?"

Looking up from his newspaper, the better looking man furrows his brows. "Only througha brief conversation. Meeting him in person once we arrive to straighten out some details at the party. Why?"

"He's the 'vice president' of the terrorist group, Bryce," Chuck answers. He watches in amusement as Bryce's eyes go wide.

"Wait, how do you not know this?" Sarah asks.

"People that high up the chain lay low, identifications are confidential." Casey joins them and they fill him in. For the next few minutes they discuss the possibilities while Chuck sits quietly watching them. Hearing enough of things like being compromised, or the chance of Greg 'swinging the other way'; i.e. gay, he steps in.

"Is it at all possible that he just wants to meet the man that went up the ranks in such a short period of time?" When they gave him skeptical looks, he explains some more. "Well, he might be too busy socializing at the party with potential clients to meet up with you during. It's not that hard to imagine his fascination."

"Kid's got a point," mumbles the eldest of the group. "But how do we know he's not compromised?"

"We could just," Sarah starts turning towards Casey, "go with Bryce undercover just to be around in case."

"Yeah, it'll be easier to keep track of things rather than in the hotel room anyway," Bryce says.

The CIA issued pilot announces for them to take their seats as they are about to descend. "About time," Casey mumbles and heads back to his place.

- - - - - - -

Once at the hotel, they check in each in their respective rooms. After unpacking, they all head to Casey's where some equipment has been set up and more fire power is found.

"Here," Casey hands Chuck an ear piece. "In case you flash on anything, numb nuts."

"Oh, how original," Chuck replies with a fake smile. With the gang all dressed casually, to blend in of course, they awaited for confirmation from the contact.

It was getting too quiet while Casey went over the security cameras and Bryce was doing some research. "So," Chuck manages to stretch out the single syllabic word for far too long. He turns to Sarah who is sitting quietly on the bed beside him, fidgeting with her fingers. God, she's adorable. "Hi, Sarah."

"Hi, Chuck," she replies with a small smile. Looking at her in the eyes, he sees all the many wonderful possibilities of what they could have been, what he hopes they still could be. Those same beautiful orbs that help him get through the hardest times are staring right back at him and Chuck thinks she's thinking the same thing. Shaking his head, breaking the gaze, he realizes how foolish that is.

He doesn't know just how right he was.

"Show time," Bryce says standing up. "He's on his way, go get ready downstairs. Chuck, remember, stay close enough to have us keep an eye out for you and not too far to not Flash on anything crucial."

"Yes, ma'am."

- - - - - - - -

"There he is," alerts Casey from over at the bar. "Anything Bartowski?" Chuck glances over at the man, and retrieves nothing.

"I already flashed on his face, I doubt I'll get anything else unless he says something important," he says into his watch. The man walks over to where Bryce is casually sitting on one of the couches. He's surrounded by 3 large, muscular looking men. Through the mic and mouth piece, the two agents and asset listen in.

"Mister Larkin," says Gregory with a small smile, his accent already evident. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Standing up and extending his hand, Bryce gives him a polite smile, "Pleasures all mine, Mr..."

The skinnier man sits across from him, "Please, call me Gregory," he says with a wave of his hand. "Greogry Keznik, I'd like to thank you for meeting me in such short notice."

"Please, it was no problem."

"Well, I've been looking forward to meeting with you. Could you be kind and to tell me as to how you came to work for us?" Asks Gregory, pushing his thick rimmed glasses up his narrow nose. Bryce just goes on and on about how he started only as a delivery person, then suggesting techniques and strategies, to big time projects and managing the clients.

"Interesting, how do you find so much time?" Gregory inquires. "You've only been with us, what, 5 months? I know I'm too busy with other distractions."

Bryce chuckles, "Well, I'm not a family man. Honestly, sometimes I think they weigh you down. My friends...are expendable. And honestly, I don't waste time with TV or video games." Chuck cringes when he hears this, knowing that Keznik was indeed a family man and a gamer. Gregory Keznik's smile visibly tightens, obviously slightly offended. And you'd think Bryce was perceptive enough to notice as a spy but no, he continues. "Grown men shouldn't be playing anyway."

"Shut it, Larkin," Casey grunts, "the man's looking a bit stiff." Bryce stops talking but has a smile still plastered on his face.

Keznik's phone goes off and he reaches into his pocket to grab it, "Excuse me," he says to Bryce. Talking swiftly in the foreign language, Gregory's brows furrow and after a few more moments, he hangs up. Sighing heavily, "It appears my boss has a bad flu, more work for me, I guess."

"Oh no, this is not good," Sarah chimes in, "he has to be there tomorrow for Chuck to flash on." Keznik begins to stand up with Bryce following suit.

"I must go for now and as I may not see you tomorrow, I'll tell you now to enjoy the party," he says unenthusiastically, clearly not taking interest in someone who had offended him.

"I will, thank you." Gregory walks away and says imperceptibly something to one of his guards.

"What," Sarah whispers harshly. "He just said to shoot Bryce..."

"What!" Casey says. Chuck, for some unfathomable reason, rushes from his place and grabs a drink. "What are you doing, Bartowski?" Ignoring Casey, Chuck proceeds to rush with his drink, pretending to look distracted and bumps into Keznik.

"Oh, my goodness! I'm so sorry," Chuck explains, "I guess the whole night of Guitar Hero wasn't very healthy for my vision, huh?"

Gregory straightens up and looks up at the much taller man. "You play?"

"Oh yeah, I'm a pro," he chuckles half-heartedly. "I'm sorry," Chuck shifts the drink to his left hand, "Charles Carmichael." Keznik takes the extended hand and shakes it.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"No where, just wanted to hand this to my boss over there," and nudges his head at Bryce's direction; whose face is clearly shocked and still facing them.

"You know Bryce Larkin?"

"Well, yeah. I work for him."

"Ah, I see. I work in the same group. Are you attending tomorrow?"

"To what? The party? No, no. I wasn't invited."

"Oh, by all means, you are now," he says with a bright smile.

"Oh, please, I don't want to intrude."

"No, I insist." Keznik leans in closer, as if to whisper. "To be honest, I am not a big fan of your boss over there, so please, come." Chuck lets out a chuckle and nods. You have no idea, he thinks.

"Believe me, I'm no fan either. Thank you, I will."

"Great, see you then." He walks away and gives Chuck one last slap on the shoulder. Once he was out of sight, they start bombarding on him.

"Chuck! What were you thinking?"

"Quick thinking, Bartowski."

"You could've endangered yourself!"

"You've grown a pair, huh?"

"Good job, Chuck.."

You do the matching.

_A/N: Okay well. THANK GOD THATS OVER WITH. i really dislike this chapter. I don't know whether I should put more Charah in the next or keep going with the mission? hmmm. i'll decide when it comes to it. _


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